From the 28th of November to the 26th of April 1958, David was recorded as being at HMS Bellerphon, this was actually a collection of ships on Whale Island that formed part of the reserve fleet. Details are very scarce and I have been unable to find any extra details about his time there.
But during his time there his record changed, on the 18th of January his substantive rating changed from ORD to AB, this meant David was now an Able Seaman. The Able seaman was an experienced seaman capable of performing a specific range of duties, traditionally he could hand, reef, and steer. An AB received about 25% higher pay than an ORD.
Also at this time David's underwater weapon training took shape as his next next ships were to be TON class minesweepers.
At the end of the Second World War it was generally accepted that the emphasis on mining had shifted from deeply laid moored mines to ground mines laid in the shallow approaches to ports and harbours. The large steel built ocean minesweepers were, therefore mostly unsuitable for sweeping sophisticated modern mines laid in coastal and inshore waters. As a result, a team was formed at Bath in 1947 to design the next generation of minesweepers.
Although the original names allocated to these new sweepers were those of insects, this was later changed to villages in the UK ending in TON. The TON class proved to be a very successful design with over one hundred units built in British yards between 1951 and 1960.
The design called for an aluminium-framed, wooden planked hull with non magnetic fittings, capable of undertaking ocean passages, and the result was a double mahogany, copper plated and very sturdy craft that are still in service all over the world.
Its worth mentioning that no TON class was ever called HMS Ufton, but there was a HMS Upton.
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